For anyone who calls the U.P. home, the first sight of those two towers means one thing: you’re almost there
For every Yooper who has left the U.P. and come back, there is one sight that means you are almost home. The Mackinac Bridge on the horizon, two towers and five miles of steel strung across the water.
They call it the Mighty Mac, and it is a lot more than a way to get across the Straits.
The bridge is the only road link between Michigan’s two peninsulas, carrying I-75 across the spot where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. On the north end sits St. Ignace and the whole U.P. On the south end, Mackinaw City and everything below.
Which brings us to a little Yooper humor. If you live in the U.P., you are a Yooper. If you live down below, you are a “troll,” because, well, you live under the bridge. The Mac is the line that divides the two, and it is one of the U.P.’s favorite bits of local lingo.
And what a line it is. The Mackinac Bridge runs 26,372 feet, just 28 feet shy of a full five miles. When it opened in 1957, it was the longest suspension bridge of its kind in the world, and to this day it is still the longest in the entire Western Hemisphere.
Its towers rise 552 feet above the water. The cables holding it up contain 42,000 miles of wire, enough to wrap around the earth more than once. It is a genuine engineering marvel, built in just three and a half years in some of the roughest water in the Great Lakes. It stands right alongside the Soo Locks as one of the great feats of engineering in the U.P.
Before the Mac, getting to the U.P. meant waiting in line for a ferry, sometimes for hours, especially when deer season had everybody headed north at once. The bridge changed everything, and the dream of connecting the two peninsulas, which people had kicked around since the 1880s, finally came true.
Crossing it is not for everyone. The bridge is built to flex and sway in high winds, which can be a little unnerving 200 feet over the water. If the wind gets bad enough, they close it. And if you are too white-knuckled to drive across yourself, the bridge authority will actually send someone to drive your car over for you.
Once a year, on Labor Day, the Mac belongs to the people. It is the only day pedestrians are allowed on the bridge, and around 33,000 of them show up to walk all five miles across, a tradition that goes back to the very first years.
So sure, it is a bridge. But for anyone who calls the U.P. home, the first sight of those towers means the same thing it always has. You are crossing back over, and you are almost there.
Keep exploring
More From Yooper Hub
Know a story we should cover?
Help Us Find What Matters Across the U.P.
Send us a local lead, community event, photo, or story idea. The best Yooper Hub stories often begin with a reader.
YOUR READING IS COUNTING
You are earning Yooper Points.
Your progress is saved in this browser. Finish the story to earn 10 points, then keep them with a free account.